Trip Report
Travis and His Silent Partner Head to the Desert
Monday November 24, 2014 7:43am
As climbers our pursuits are typically decorated by a number of terrifying moments which we (well most of us) encounter. It usually first starts out, as it did for me, as an unnerving toprope, where someone (friend, family member, guide) is showing you the ropes…no pun intended. I can still remember the cold 5.9 sport route that my friend took me on, which after what seemed like hours of insecurity I finally completed, hanging on the rope 10’s of times still never trusting it completely.

From there it was my first lead, then my first lead on gear, then my first take on gear, my first self-built gear anchor, my first fall on gear, my first fall on little gear and so on. Progressivity I’ve honed in my skills albeit to an extent to get to the…crappy…level I’m at today.

Well, given my circumstances, not very social, GF and main partner who is in medical school, against my better judgment, I went out and purchased a silent partner. And after one terrifying fall (see paragraph 1 and 2) with a toprope backup, I was now an expert soloist (no not really but I felt an n of 1 was good enough). So after several uses here Little Cottonwood Canyon I took my wonderful partner down to the desert for some climbing.

First we started on Chocolate Corner, still afraid of falling I got a little French free to get around the short tight tight hands section.

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Credit: Travis Haussener
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3 reds and a screamer, looked like a good anchor to me

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Credit: Travis Haussener
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The route in its entirety...sorry no butt shots

Then we went over and put up generic crack.
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Credit: Travis Haussener
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Credit: Travis Haussener
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Then my whole anchor blew out...no not really this is just after I disassembled it.

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Credit: Travis Haussener
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Best friends forever!!

I wanted to do supercrack but my SP insisted on IHC so I obliged him. I ran it out a little...but he didn't mind.
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Credit: Travis Haussener
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We then went over to a gang top-roped supercrack and decided we'd had it for the day and headed back to SLC for some powder skiing.

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Credit: Travis Haussener
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  Trip Report Views: 8,251
Travis Haussener
About the Author
Travis Haussener is a trad climber from Salt Lake City.

Comments
Norwegian

Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
  Nov 24, 2014 - 08:19am PT
socially, you're toast.
turn in your communication skills at the front desk.
Vitaliy M.

Mountain climber
San Francisco
  Nov 24, 2014 - 08:31am PT
Nice! How do you like it? I recently got one too, looking forward to using it!
Travis Haussener

Trad climber
Salt Lake City
Author's Reply  Nov 24, 2014 - 08:42am PT
V, you climb way harder than me so I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I don't think there's too much rope management involved at least for me, especially after reading some other comments on here and MP. It's pretty much, make sure rope is nice and coiled, start climbing, stop tie backup knot, continue climbing. I certainly only do routes where I know I could french free the whole thing. It's also nice to have a "take cam" ready whenever needed. But it has opened up a lot of worlds.
matty

Trad climber
Sad the forum is gone =(
  Nov 24, 2014 - 09:40am PT
I love my silent partner and have done a lot with it. Just a quick comment on your setup:


IMO this anchor should have a downward facing directional above the 3 cams so than when there is slack in the rope the cams will not rotate out of place. something like this...




^^^not my exact setup, just a picture from the web but gives the basic idea


If the anchor was all bolts I wouldn't worry so much, but with cams...
AP

Trad climber
Calgary
  Nov 24, 2014 - 11:38am PT
I always set anchors for an upward pull then 1 piece higher, tighten up the slack between the upper and lower pieces so the whole thing doesn't move around.
How do you handle the backup loops? I usually have 1 backup loop at a time and when this runs out frequently have to hang off a piece when lengthening the backup. I know this isn't technically "free" but WTF roped soloing is a weird deal anyway.
Chris Cunningham

Trad climber
San Francisco
  Nov 24, 2014 - 11:40am PT
And what about biners set opposed and a stopper knot for good practice.
Travis Haussener

Trad climber
Salt Lake City
Author's Reply  Nov 24, 2014 - 12:06pm PT
Thanks for the criticism, I'll be sure to take the upward force into account next time. Biners opposed...I'm not too concerned, they're both locking. Yeah for backup knots...just take on a piece, untie and retie...although with one of the routes, Incredible Hand Crack, to be specific there are enough natural ledges where I can balance untie and retie without taking.

Also the "runout" picture was at the anchor and I was already in direct so my stopper knot was already untied.
Ed H

Trad climber
Santa Rosa, CA
  Nov 24, 2014 - 02:21pm PT
TFPU! Indian Creek bump! Silent partner bump!
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
  Nov 24, 2014 - 02:29pm PT
My Silent Partner has been all it's cracked up to be, so I loved your post. And you sure made those cracks look inviting. Thanks.

John
Norwegian

Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
  Nov 24, 2014 - 02:40pm PT
don't untie and then retie backup knots
in the middle of your pitch....

build enough backup knots / loops
at the start of your pitch
to reach either a belay
or an adequate ledge / stance
to add more loops.

look ahead and coil the future
on your hip.

modern day john wayne,
and here's a picture of a top directional piece
to keep your anchor oriented upward

Norwegian

Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
  Nov 24, 2014 - 02:51pm PT
If the anchor was all bolts I wouldn't worry so much, but with cams...

even with a bolted anchor it is important to
put in a directional piece.

sometimes the silent partner will back feed
just from rope weight
and without knowing it
you'll have 50' of slack
hanging on your anchor.

also, tie off the occasional piece on a vertical pitch
such as super crack to prevent this.

on wandering pitches it's not so important
as the rope friction through pieces prevents
back-feeding.
Travis Haussener

Trad climber
Salt Lake City
Author's Reply  Nov 24, 2014 - 03:17pm PT
Weeg, thanks for the input...as for the rebelays, I'm terrified of gaining excess slack so I kept checking to see if my lead line was taut and even on generic crack I never gained any excess slack, so as of now I'm not too concerned with tying off pieces.

As for you putting all your knots on the harness...how do you manage then when you're in tight places?..I'd feel so cramped with that much stuff on one side and then gear on the other. I'm specifically referring to stuff like chimneys, offwidths, dihedrals where you usually only rack up on one side.
AP

Trad climber
Calgary
  Nov 24, 2014 - 04:54pm PT
Offwidths with a SP? sounds like NOT fun. Good potential for an epic unless you are way below your limit.
Kalimon

Social climber
Ridgway, CO
  Nov 24, 2014 - 07:07pm PT
Nice TR, but French-free on Chocolate Corner? Harden up man.
Norwegian

Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
  Nov 24, 2014 - 07:25pm PT
i'm the playground bully around here,
i make all threads about ME.

at my limit,
5.10 flare,

silent partner, it
complements the journey of the fool-hearted.

oh and i found my silent partner
a girlfriend,
MisterE

Gym climber
Small Town with a Big Back Yard
  Nov 24, 2014 - 07:30pm PT
My partner is rarely silent and always skeerd - but she is certainly not mechanical, and always provides a dynamic...belay...yeah, that's the ticket.

so I got that going for me.

Weeg knows his stuff when it comes to soloing with the SP - always good advise from his quadrant.
T.J.

climber
  Nov 24, 2014 - 08:04pm PT
Don't know the guy but like his poetry! "Weegie" has good beta as well as the posts of the anchor. Looks like you had some fun!

Cheers!

T.J.
crunch

Social climber
CO
  Dec 13, 2014 - 01:46pm PT
Nice!
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